MANILA, Philippines—A friendly dare over three bottles of beer cost Manny Pacquiao a million dollars early Friday morning. Those beers could also make him at least $12 million richer.
Again showing how deeply he values friendship, Pacquiao finally relented to fight Ricky Hatton after trusted confidant Rex “Wakee” Salud, a non-drinker, accepted his dare to gulp down the beers during an informal meeting of Pacquiao’s inner circle at the Shangri-La in Makati.
Just like that and Pacquiao “threw away” his demand for a guaranteed purse of $13 million, and accepted a 52-48 percent revenue sharing in his favor to do battle with the British ring icon at 140 pounds (junior welterweight) on May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“The world is looking forward to it, so the fight is on,” Pacquiao said on local radio. “I have spoken to Bob Arum,” he added, referring to the top honcho of Top Rank Inc. which promotes Pacquiao’s fights.
The development, which came a day after Pacquiao-Hatton was declared “off” when the world’s acknowledged best pound-for-pound boxer refused to sign the fight contract, elated Arum no end. According to Salud, the 76-year-old Arum was even contemplating on flying to Manila on Tuesday for the fight contract to be signed and sealed. But Pacquiao has spared him the trouble.
“Manny has assured me he’s signed the contract, that he’s announcing to the Philippines press that he’s signed it, and that everything’s done,” Arum told The Los Angeles Times Thursday night.
A report by American journalist Brad Cooney also affirmed that Arum had informed his counterpart, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, and celebrated trainer Freddie Roach of Pacquiao’s sudden change of mind.
Roach and Pacquiao intend to start training camp on March 1 at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.The original proposition for the Pacquiao-Hatton fight was a 50-50 revenue split. But Team Pacquiao, citing the Filipino’s universal appeal and his lopsided eight-round stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6, balked and asked for a 60-40 division. The Hatton camp, pointing out that Britons generated around $20 million for Hatton’s losing effort against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December, 2007, haggled for 52-48. Team Pacquiao asked for 55-45.
Salud, who for the past few days has been trying to convince Pacquiao to accept the $12-million guarantee and 52-48 division, was so ecstatic he was unable to sleep Friday. “It would be hard to get that kind of deal against any other fighter,” Salud said. Pacquiao’s fight against Hatton, most likely to be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, is expected to earn more money than his “Dream Match” against De La Hoya.
In fighting De La Hoya, Pacquiao was guaranteed $11 million and settled for a 62-38 revenue split in De La Hoya’s favor. Now, it’s Pacquiao’s turn to grab the bounty. Before Pacquiao confirmed the fight with Hatton was on, an Agence France-Presse report portrayed him as in combative mood.
“I want to fight Ricky Hatton if the terms are right and fair,” Pacquiao said. “Modesty aside, I did not become the best pound-for-pound fighter by fighting patsies on my way to the top.“I beat Oscar De La Hoya when he said he was still on top of his game.
I proved I can fight at any weight level and I won two different titles in two different divisions, also, last year. Now I say to Ricky Hatton, king of the 140-pound division, ‘Let’s get it on,’ without the middlemen... Now I say we fight.”
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